It’s officially official: Comcast is no longer in pursuit of 21st Century Fox and its sought-after media assets.
Despite two eye-watering bids ($65 billion) and months of speculation, the U.S. cable giant announced Thursday that the Disney-Comcast bidding war had come to a close, and it’s the Mouse House, whose $71.3 billion offer was tabled three weeks ago, that is now in pole position to acquire most of 20th Century Fox and its entertainment assets – X-Men, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four included.
Yes, Marvel’s First Family are headed home, which will only expand Marvel Studios and its reign over the superhero genre for months – if not decades – to come. This potentially historic merger is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, so Disney isn’t across the finish line just yet, but Bob Iger, for one, is feeling pretty confident about the whole ordeal now that Comcast is officially out of the race.
We’re extremely pleased with today’s news, and our focus now is on completing the regulatory process and ultimately moving toward integrating our businesses.
Adding Fox assets to its already impressive roster will only boost Disney’s Hollywood dominance, and this acquisition comes in good time what with the streaming service set to go live at some point next year. It’s already secured a live-action Star Wars TV series from Jon Favreau, while the ongoing SDCC just brought word that The Clone Wars is making a 12-episode comeback (and no, you read that right).
It’s still early, early days for the Disney-Fox merger, but any potential of a Comcast upset has now faded away, leaving the Mouse House with a clear path to make its move.
